Kidspot Mums Say Review - Sofia the First - A Royal Family Tour of Christchurch

Hot on the heels of William, Kate and George's Royal Tour, the Royal  Family from Enchancia pictured here in a formal family portrait recently visited Christchurch.

Sofia, the darling of the Royal Family was a crowd favourite with royal watchers  sure to look out for her wherever  the Royal Family were visiting.

The Royals visited a local wildlife park on a NZ Kiwi Tour.  They talked to staff about the kiwi breeding programme and the results of this work that have been achieved.

They took a tour of Christchurch's Earthquake Recovery effort, Prince James and King Roland taking a particular interest in the diggers.

They stayed a night at the exclusive Jellie Castle, rumoured to be $1000 night.  They posed for photographers and waved to well wishers on the castle balconies.

Well wishers who got quite close while giving them flowers said the Royals were 'lovely' and happy to chat, commenting that the weather 'had been different to what they had at home'.  They hadn't had much rain in Enchancia so were happy to experience the cooler weather.

Sophia particularly liked the garden, commenting to staff on  the spring flowers.  And the friendliness of the creatures in the garden.

While Sophia was admiring the garden, there was a security breach, with King Roland and Queen Miranda being manhandled by a well wisher. The overexcited well wisher was detained however no charges will be laid.  The Royal Family were quite happy to be man handled, King Roland commented that 'they were made of pretty strong stuff'.

The Royal Family also visited a local theme park with the royal children enjoying a number of the rides. 

Afterwards the family enjoyed some popcorn and rumour has it, the family are taking some of the snack food home with them to Enchancia.

In Christchurch they also visited the local swimming pool, watching swimming lessons in progress.  King Roland and Queen Miranda were impressed with Swimsmart, Christchurch City Council’s Learn to Swim Programme.   Recently, the Christchurch City Council was awarded the 2014 Quality Swim School of the Year Award. 

They also took time out of their busy schedule to picnic in the park and admire the autumn leaves.

The last night of the tour they attended the Government House Ball.  James delighted fellow guests by dancing with his sisters while King Roland and Queen Miranda looked on.

Earlier in the day, the Royals from Enchancia visited the Government House kitchen to meet with the Chef who prepared the evening banquet.  Queen Miranda was said to be excited about the banquet meal and was looking forward to trying the 'Chicken Pie a la Enchancia'.

The Royal Family also posed for well known Kiwi photographer for a more casual family portrait to mark the end of a successful Royal tour.  One lucky well wisher who thoroughly enjoyed the Royal visit is looking forward to following them on their next tour which is rumoured to be a visit to Sofia's distant cousin Jake in Neverland.

How to throw a ROARRRING good party! *Stuck on You Product Review & Giveaway*

Thanks to our friends at Stuck on You releasing their new Party range we were able to throw a ROARRRING good Dino party at Lily's Preschool recently.  We decided on a Dino Party as they had been learning all about Dinosaurs so we wanted to celebrate all things dinosaur.  And they loved it.  Like really LOVED it!

The Dino Details...

It was easy to create our own Personalised Party details from Stuck on You like the Party Wall Sticker, Party Place Cards, Party Food Cards, Invitations, Party Dots Stickers, Party Water Bottle Labels and Straw Flags.

Dino Party Food...

Swamp Jelly (Lime jelly with Milo sprinkles in upcycled yoghurt cups), Prehistoric Popcorn (plain popcorn) , Bronto Bites (Ham and Cheese Sandwiches cut into dino shapes), Dino Bites (Sugarfree Dino Jellies), Cretaceous Cupcakes (Vanilla cupcakes with Chocolate frosting and Dino Toppers), Dino Eggs (grapes), Dino Toenails (Vege crisps)

Dino Party Decorations...

The coolest tree in the jungle made with the artistic talents of Lily's Preschool teachers, Dino Cupcake Toppers (small toy dinosaurs), Dino plates (plastic plates with holes cut through to sit on top of larger dinosaurs), Dino Noticeboard and Dino Bunting.

Dino Fun & Games...

Fun and Games included Pin the Dino in the jungle Canvas party game from Stuck on You, Dino Playdough, Doing the Stegosaurus dance, Dino Dig (digging for dinosaurs in sand) , Bubbles (wouldn't be a party without bubbles), Dino footprints and Finding Dino eggs (plastic eggs with dinosaurs inside).

Dressing up...

It wouldn't be a Dino party without Cave People and a cute Stegosaurus! 

Dino Party Favours...

I made these Dino Party Favours using Party Place Cards and created a Dino Dig bag full of goodies - bubbles, shredded paper, Foam Dino stickers, Bubble Dino stickers and Dino Rubber Sets.

Giveaway...

To inspire your own Dino Party, I have a Party in a Cup and I x set of Party Dots cards to giveaway.  The Party Dots can be used for so many things - Favour bags, Cake Pop tags, Food Decorations.  To be in to win comment below about your best kids party go to trick - it can be a fave food that you make, game or decorations that have the wow factor.

A big THANKYOU to Lily's Preschool Teachers Megan, Jess and Bea and Jenna our Photographer.  And to the cutest little Cave People you ever did see!  You are Party animals!

And remember Dinosaurs say ROARRRRRR!!!!!!!!!

The Fun Lunch Series : Part 1 - Hamming up Sandwiches

The humble sandwich in my day was pretty humble.  And by humble I mean Peanut Butter or Marmite.  On a good day it was ham and chicken paste (the thought of this still makes me shudder to this day). Things have gotten slightly better in the sandwich department now that I am an adult but having a toddler has definitely got me thinking on the go about different ways to make the sandwich a little more enticing.

With Sandwiches as an easy go-to lunch item for many parents, it's important to mix it up so the kids don't pull the plug on your easy fix when you need to prepare something quick, simple and healthy for lunch.
Try turning an ordinary sandwich into something cool by experimenting with these fun lunch accessories -cookie cutters, sandwich cutters,  funbites cutters, sandwich bags and a little imagination with a sprinkling of creativity. 

Cookie Cutters

Use cookie cutters to cut the bread into fun shapes, add a touch of colour with spread like the stained glass window or create some cute characters with vegie detail like the teddies.  The possibilities are endless........(no really... they are, just check out my Hamming up Sandwiches board on Pinterest!)

Sandwich Cutters

Sandwich Cutters are a great way to spruce up a sandwich, turning it from average to AWESOME. There are a few variations - Sandwich Cutters. Lunch Punches or Funbites Cutters.  They basically do all the work for you creating something magical and you look like a superstar in front of the kids - it's a win win!

Funbites

Funbites is a  a high performance curved blade cutter that quickly creates small bites and a matching popper top that pops out food instantly so hands are clean, food is untouched.  Check out the demo here of how it all works.  These girls are the daughters of the Funbites creator Bobbie Rhoads - way to help out in the family business girls (and super enthusiastic too!)

Sandwich bags

Sandwich bags are a great way to package the kids lunches as well as being an eco-friendly option at the same time. Helen from Yayah Design started making re-useable sandwich and snack bags when her daughters Preschool banned Gladwrap and it was hard work to get all the little plastic boxes in her lunchbox. Helen decided there had to be a better way and started experimenting with different types of bags and came up with a version of a plastic sandwich envelope.  We are so glad she did, as you can see there are some pretty cool designs to brighten up anyone's lunchbox.

  

 Using your Imagination

With a little imagination and help from Pinterest you can make all sorts with a couple of slices of bread and spread.  You can also disguise veges as being the super cool details, and the kids won't notice you snuck them in there.  Check out these cool ideas using a little imagination with a sprinkling of creativity.

Now you can see that the humble sandwich can be anything you want it to be and with a little imagination and a few handy tools it can be AMAZING!  To check out more ideas and all images sources head to my Pinterest board  – Hamming up Sandwiches

If you would like to win the fun lunch accessories below enter the giveaway and you can win all of these items to get you started on the road to Fun Lunches....

Bear Sandwich Cutter from Keeping it Kawaii , Sandwich and Snack bags from ya-yah design, Puzzle Sandwich Cutter from Remember When You Used To Be A Rascal, Cookies Cutters from justalittlebitcute.

Giveaway Details :
- to enter, leave a comment describing something you love about me. Just kidding. You can leave a comment about your favourite go to lunch trick or tip either here or on the Facebook page. Sharing is caring.
- one comment per person
- you must live in New Zealand
- giveaway closes on Wednesday 24th July. 

Good to know:
- if you like our Fun Lunch sponsors on Facebook you can stay up-to-date on all their goings-on and know about any deals or promotions that pop up, including giveaways. Check them out up there on the sidebar- 
- if you like justalittlebitcute and our sponsors on Facebook you will be the coolest kid in town. Or something like that. 
- these things will not earn you a second entry, but it will make me and my sponsors appreciate the love
- you can get discount at Yayah Design on Sandwich bags using the coupon code "FunLunch" during the Fun Lunch Series
-you can also get discount from bubbalooz (discount is 15% off on purchases over $25) during the Fun Lunch series.

IMPORTANT 

- make sure there is some way for me to contact you! Leave an email, or have your name clickable to a profile or something.  If there is no way for me to reach you then I'll have to draw another entry!! This has happened previously, so I wouldn't like to do this and disappoint someone!

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

When Sweetie Pie came to Woodgrove - A Stuck on You Product Review and Giveaway

Once upon a time a baby was born and because the gender was to be a secret the nursery was decorated in neutral colours - red, black and white.  Then the baby was born and it was a girl! Then as time went by, pink (a lot of pink) was introduced into their lives however the Nursery stayed the same.  The room became a bit overrun with toys, books, more toys, more books and general baby stuff.   Then one day Sweetie Pie came along, a wall art sticker from Stuck on You.  Sweetie Pie decided her and Lily would like it better in a little girls room so it was decided a little girls room they would have.

Here is an overview of the room before we started....

THE BABY NURSERY

DAY ONE....Changing the Wall Decal - Meet Sweetie Pie

Here is the wall art application - the process was super easy!  

It took me about 20 mins to apply the whole scene and what was great about the process was, that if you didn't quite like the position you could just peel it off and start again!

One little Sweetie Pie came along....

(Check out my levelling line! It's very hi tech I tell you!)

Then some other little Sweetie Pie's came along

Then it was a party!

 I really wanted to keep the original tree as its quite special, in that it was one of the things I remember from the time of decorating our little nursery and  I felt really sad thinking about taking it down ..so I tied in the two decals together....

Lily also has a thing about bees - it all stems from the Bee Movie which she LOVES, really really LOVES.  So I added some bees to hang out with the butterflies.

So here was the BEFORE....

And here is the AFTER.......

It is a super easy process to order, you get to choose and preview your design before ordering.  There are lots of designs to choose from!

DAY TWO...Sweetie Pie said how about a book nook?

BEFORE.....

AFTER......

I added a blow up chair, cute cushions, some spice racks to hold books and a message to 'read'.

DAY THREE...Sweetie Pie said how about  updating those other walls?

BEFORE.... 

AFTER......

So I changed her fabric photo board,  put up a dressing gown rack, put a height chart on the side of her bookshelf and popped up some bunting!

DAY FOUR....Sweetie Pie said how about tidying up some of those toys?

BEFORE.........

AFTER.........

Tidying toys - this is where it got serious!  I grabbed some storage bins from the warehouse and popped her toys in those under her bed (which she found quick smart).

DAY FIVE....Sweetie Pie said how about updating the bookshelves?

BEFORE..........

AFTER..........

Updated the bookshelves with some coloured hangers, fabric storage box changes and some of Lily's favourite things.

DAY SIX...Sweetie Pie said how about some lighting changes?

The lightshade cover is actually a tutu skirt from one of the dollar stores - it has an elastic band which fitted right over the lightshade - super cute!

And this cute little flower lamp will provide some light when reading to Lily at night before bed.

THE RESULT....

So what did Lily think about Sweetie Pie and her room makeover?

She loves her new 'stickies' and quite often I hear her talking to them when she is supposed to be asleep. The whole room is so much lighter and seems so much bigger with the light colours.  Lily also spends more time in there which didn't really happen before so that's been a win!

Lily with her 'stickies'

and some of her other faves, the lanterns and the book nook. 

A big THANKYOU to STUCK ON YOU for the inspiration behind this makeover!

For those if you who love to know where it all came from, here is the Room Breakdown -  I was also on a bit of a budget so tried to buy items that were a realistic price so if you feel inspired then you can buy them too.  If its not listed I already had it (but feel free to ask and I can try and remember where it came from!)

Sweetie Pie Wall Art - $49.95 (Stuck on You)

Check out Stuck on You

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/stuckonyouofficial

Twitter – www.twitter.com/stuckonyoutweet

Google+ - Okey. gplus.to/StuckonYou

Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/StuckonYouAust/

Instagram – instagram.com/stuckonyouofficial

From The Warehouse -

Beanless Inflatable Chair - $9.95

Pink Storage Cubes - $4.99 ea

Plastic storage bins under bed - $10 ea

Flower light - $13.99

'read' letters - $17.95 (Typo)

Book Racks - $5.99 ea  (Storage Box)

Fabric to recover photo board - $9.95 (Fabric Vision)

Heart Cushion - $7 (K Mart)

Height Chart - $15 (Spotlight)

AND here is how YOU can go into the draw to win your very own Wall Art from Stuck on You -

Visit the Stuck on You Website and comment below which design you would choose for your very own room makeover or update.

Get yourself another chance by visiting the Stuck on You Facebook page and justalittlebitcute Facebook page and let me know that you have by leaving a comment here.

Lily will randomly choose someone out of a hat on Wednesday 17th April x